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In the last few seasons, Hassan Whiteside has emerged as one of the most productive big men in the league with the Miami Heat.
This hasn't exactly led to him have much comfort in being one of the foundational pieces to the Heat's future. That said, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has reported that the front office has now made him available to acquire in a trade at this point in the season with the trade deadline just under a month away.
First let’s make this clear: There is no indication that the Heat has made Hassan Whiteside available in a trade.
This shouldn't come as much of a surprise given that Miami currently holds the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference behind their recent surge of six straight wins. Whiteside has played a major part in helping his team continue to trend in the right direction with three of his 12 double-doubles on the season occurring over this stretch of games.
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Although Whiteside has been hindered by injuries this year, he is averaging a double-double with 14.0 and 11.8 rebounds along with 1.7 blocks per contest in 23 games played. When healthy, the 28-year-old has been a reliable source of production with much of that coming from his strong work on the glass being sixth in the league in rebounding.
That said, he has yet to truly break through to become the franchise cornerstone player the Heat are hoping he can fulfill after inking him to a four-year, $98.4 million deal two offseasons ago. Whiteside has truly been nothing short of productive in a Heat uniform, but he has yet to take the next step to demonstrate he can be a player the team can build around.
With the trade deadline drawing nearer, the Heat could field offers for Whiteside. Given the nature of the team's performance over the last couple of weeks, they could foreseeably stick with their current group to see how far it can take them. What should be noted is that he still has two more years on his deal that includes a $27 million player option for the 2019-20 campaign.
